Getting Around

Message from Interim CEO Cindy Ady - Our common thread

September 17, 2013

In the five short months since I’ve joined the Tourism Calgary team we’ve been confronted with flooding and funding issues. It has never been more important to be good at what we do. Through the adversity I’ve noticed a common thread that weaves through who we are as a city and what we do as your destination marketing organization.

Calgary is bold and constantly evolving. At Tourism Calgary we aspire to live that brand – to fulfil that promise.

Tourism Calgary is also constantly evolving and we will continue to be bold in our marketing and sales efforts as we work to inspire events and visitors to join us in Calgary.

Our entire team came together in response to the flood. We collaborated with critical stakeholders; we united the industry under a unified banner; and, with our agency, we developed a bold campaign with a simple message and clear delivery.

It worked – the research is in. Canadians believe Calgary has recovered, our hotels are filling up and our events are selling out.

We continue to evolve, improve, learn from experience and build from success. Years of strategic planning and pursuit from our sales team and the Calgary Sport Tourism Authority bore fruit over the past few weeks with the PGA’s Shaw Charity Classic and the inaugural Tour of Alberta. Switching and mixing metaphors, the marketing team grabbed the baton and ran with the ball.

These events were fully leveraged providing advertising access to viewers with disposable income who love to travel. These kinds of events are critical marketing assets for a city. They are travel motivators that create urgency to travel now.

When combined with

the only outdoor summer opera festival in the country;

the world’s greatest equestrian competition – The Masters at Spruce Meadows; and

Beakerhead’s remarkable collision of art and engineering,

Calgary’s August and September were filled with incredible stories and imagery. And it doesn’t end there, from last night’s Really Long Table Dinner to the Calgary International Film Festival and YYC Comedy Festival on into the winter World Cup season.

Calgary has never looked better, whether in person or on television, and her destination marketing organization has never been better equipped to share her stories and inspire visitation. We can never sit back on our heels and rest on our laurels. Our industry of industries demands that we innovate or antiquate.

We have issues yet to surpass and we will share updates on progress when we can. Just rest assured Tourism Calgary will be carrying the Calgary flag for many years to come.

It has been my pleasure to work with many of you over the course of the summer, I’ve enjoyed sharing in the exploits of our skilled team and I look forward to much more of the same.